Month: March 2015

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 3/30

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

Books I Finished This Week:
I really enjoyed reading The Thing About Georgie by Lisa Graff. The main character in this book is a little person and he has challenges that he faces every day because of this. When his mother tells him she is pregnant, he really struggles with thinking that maybe his mom and dad will love the new baby more because he/she is normal. I think this is another important book to introduce to students. It would be a really good read aloud because it would definitely start some really interesting and important discussions. 
I love Jane Austen and I love the really fun many versions of her stories. Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg is such a fun book! This adaptation of Pride and Prejudice is set at a prestigious private school in which every girl hopes to be asked to prom, the event of the year for girls there. I love how fun this story was. It really reminded me of the movie Clueless and the way that was an adaptation of Emma. 


Books I am Currently Reading:
I am reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I am alternating listening to the audiobook and reading on my Kindle. It is such a fun story and I am really enjoying the characters. I also started reading The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay for my book club. 
What’s Next?
I have a stack that is waiting patiently for Spring Break next week. I will probably continue to look for some shorter reads to read while I am plugging my way through Outlander. It will really depend on what I feel like reading at the time. I think I will try to do a spring book-a-day challenge. 
What are you reading this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments! 

Slice of Life: Author Visit with Jennifer Holland 3/29

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March. If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

This week, I was lucky enough to have another author visit at my school. Jennifer Holland came to speak to my students about her new book Unlikely Heroes as well as her other books and her magazine articles. Ms. Holland is a staff writer for National Geographic magazine and she travels the world learning about animals.  
I was so excited to have her visit our school and share all about her work.  The students were enthralled with the stories about the animal friendships and the animal heroes that she wrote about. When we had a chance for questions, the students all clamored for her attention and were super excited for her to answer their questions. 

I loved having Jennifer Holland visit our school. I am still so incredibly moved that I am able to have such great authors visit our school and give my students these experiences with great writers. 
Find out more about Jennifer Holland on her website here.

Slice of Life: Clean-up 3/28

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March. If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

Today at school, we had a clean sweep. Our principal arranged to have volunteers come in and help us clean out our school. There were piles and piles of things stored in coat rooms and closets. As many of you know, we teachers are packrats. It is hard to get rid of things that might be useful someday. However, the reality is that most of us forget about what we have stored and then the next teacher inherits that old junk. 
I was so happy to be able to go in today and organize things. There was a metal cabinet in my coat room that was full of “science” supplies going back at least 20 years. It was so nice to be able to have volunteers work in my classroom and clear out that cabinet. I was able to quickly sort through the junk that was in there and then throw away tons of stuff. A quick wipe down later and now I have a bunch more storage space and will be able to organize better. 
The best thing about today was that I learned about two great organizations in my community that I hadn’t heard of before. The volunteer effort was organized by Blackboard Volunteer Corps. This group is a service group that is organizing volunteers to come into schools and help out. Our school was their second project. It was really amazing to see so many people from the community turn out to give us their time. The other group is an organization called NEWaukee. They are a group that is working to try to keep young talent in Milwaukee by helping young professionals with many things. One branch of their organization is a service branch. They like to set up projects with different organizations each month so that their members can try out different volunteer efforts and possibly find a group they want to help on a more regular basis. 
I was pleasantly surprised by how many people were at school today and volunteering their Saturday mornings to give us a hand. They were all so happy to be helping out and they were willing to do anything I needed them to do. My classroom is cleaner than it was and I got to learn about some great groups in my community.  

Slice of Life: Perplexed

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March. If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

Why is it so hard for some people to be nice? There is one particular person in my life that always seems to find the most unpleasant and confrontational way to deal with everything that rubs her the wrong way. I don’t get it. I just don’t understand why this person feels that she will be able to get things from people by having a rude and uncompromising tone with everything she does. I wonder if it gets her things with other people. How can it be a good life if everything you react to has points and sharp edges. The funny thing is that it is always small stuff that this person reacts to. Who cares if something cheap got lost? Is your family so saintly that they never do wrong? I think not. It is interesting that this same person who has this confrontational and rude way of interacting with people will then turn around and make excuses for everything. I wonder what her life would be like if she just took an honest look at herself and her family and realized that sometimes their s*** stinks too. Sometimes the best thing to do is to just follow the rules and play fair. Why is that so hard for some people?

Okay, rant over. Moral of the story: Choose to be kind to others and others will be kind to you.

Slice of Life: Thoughts on Tragedy 3/26

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March. If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

I am speechless and heartbroken thinking about the victims of the latest airplane crash in the French Alps. It breaks my heart to think about all of those people who died in the latest tragedy. Whenever something like this happens, it really makes me think about the way that life can take a turn for the worst at any moment. It was bad enough knowing that it was a horrible accident. 
But now, they think that the co-pilot crashed the plane on purpose. Say what? I am without words for this. How could someone be so messed up that this is the decision they made? The pilot was trying to break back into the cockpit for goodness sakes. What must have been going through this person’s head? The only thing I can think about is how this person must not have been right in the head. I wonder if he thought he was being told to do this horrible thing. 
We will probably never know what was going through this man’s head during those moments. I just think that this makes the whole thing so much more tragic. 

Slice of Life: Clutter 3/25

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March. If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

The state of my desk at work is approaching disaster level. I have so much clutter and so many papers and so many books and so little time. I find myself inspired by the insanity.

Buried
under mountains of copies,
the teacher editions
collide
with papers
awaiting grades,
awaiting files,
awaiting signatures.
Books are piled
haphazardly.
There is no end.
The papers and mess keep
piling up until
my sanity
starts to unravel.
I must organize,
I must clean,
I must tidy up.
But when?

Slice of Life: Book Club 3/24

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March. If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

Tomorrow after school I am hosting the first meeting of my staff book club at school. I am so excited to have this meeting. It is something I have been thinking about for years. I finally decided to put it out there and I am so happy about the response. I feel like the book culture at my school could use some help. It is great that other teachers love the idea of a book club. I am so happy that I decided to put it out there. 
The book club decided to read All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. I loved this book and am really looking forward to discussing it with others. I will be stopping by a neighborhood bakery in the morning to pick up some french pastries to share with my colleagues. I know I will love my time at book club and I hope that the other teachers do too. 

Slice of Life: Monday Poem 3/23

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March. If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

Thought I would try a poem tonight. I don’t remember where I saw this idea, but I loved the playful form of two word lines. It was a challenge to stick to only two words for some lines. It is definitely something I will try again.

Monday

Bone Tired
Get up
Dress Well
Drink Coffee
Hurry up
Plan well
Make copies
Organize papers
Log in
Check mail
Greet students
Give directions
Repeat myself
Repeat myself
Repeat myself
Deliver lesson
Answer questions
Listen in
Blow whistle
Clap Hands
Line up
Eat lunch
Become genius
Read aloud
Confer quietly
Sort words
Remind students
Repeat myself
Repeat myself
Repeat myself
Line up
Find bathroom
Quick Meeting
Gym over
Walk back
Quiet writing
Homework directions
Line up
Say goodnight
Exhausted teacher
Yoga time
Clean more
Cook dinner
Read e-mail
Write blog
Must rest
Sweet dreams

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 3/23

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

Books I Finished This Week:
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr is a breathtakingly beautiful book. I loved this historical fiction book. The language in this book was gorgeous and the characters were so intriguing. What I liked the most is that the author really brought out the fact that the characters were who they were doing what they were because of circumstances of where they lived when the war started. This is a beautiful story and heartbreaking read, but so worth it. 
La mirada de los angeles by Camilla Lackberg is the 8th book in her Fjallbacka series. It is another great murder mystery featuring Patrick Hedstrom and the crew in the Tanumshed police squad. The first three mysteries in this series are available in the USA in English and I would highly recommend them. 
I was lucky enough to have a school author visit last week from Tina and Carson Kugler, authors of In Mary’s Garden. I highly recommend this great picture book about a real-life Milwaukee artist. For more information visit my Slice of Life post from Friday here.
Books I am Currently Reading:
I just started listening to Outlander by Diane Gabaldon. I have both the Kindle book and the Audible audiobook so I will probably switch back and forth between listening and reading this one. I also am reading a nonfiction book from Netgalley about Chocolate and its history. So far it is a very interesting glimpse into ancient cultures of South America.

What’s Next?

I am probably going to pick up some of the middle grade titles that I have sitting on my shelves. I want to be able to cross a number of titles off my TBR list and I have been reading long books lately so it will be nice to read some shorter selections. 

Slice of Life: Serendipity 3/22

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March. If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

Sometimes things happen that seem to be more than coincidence, as if the universe were conspiring to send you a message. There are many books that I have read over the years that speak of some sort of force like an energy that brings you the things you need. Both The Celestine Prophecy and The Secret come to mind. Whether you believe in this sort of theory or not, it is hard not to read meaning into some coincidences. 
On Friday, my husband and I went to our favorite bar. It is a beer bar in our neighborhood and we are regulars there. We enjoy having a beer at happy hour on Fridays and talking to the bartenders and relaxing. This week, we happened to sit down next to two Spaniards. This was significant because my husband is also a Spaniard. We overheard them speaking Spanish and knew from the accent that these two people were from Spain. Now, over the years we have met many people from Spain who are living in Milwaukee. We have been friends with some of them, acquaintances with others, and we most recently have really drifted away from the group of friends we had. So when we run into people from Spain we are curious, but cautious. It does not necessarily follow that just because you are from the same country you will be friends. But Friday, we had a very pleasant conversation with the two men that we met. One of them was just visiting and the other is living here. It was nice to talk about the things that we miss about Spain and the things that we like about Milwaukee. We had a nice conversation and we exchanged numbers and we will see what else happens, but it was nice to meet him. 
The conversation with this Spaniard who we hadn’t yet met turned to conversation about a few people from Spain that were mutual acquaintances. My husband and I have not really seen these people for about three years. We talked a little bit about possibly trying to contact a few people who were friends of ours to try to re-establish contact. I am happy about this because it has not been something my husband has been interested in doing for a while and I kind of miss these people. 
Then, on Saturday, we got a text from another couple who we had met in December. These people live in our neighborhood and also go to the beer bar frequently enough that the bartenders introduced us to each other. She is from Spain and he is from here and they didn’t really know anyone else from Spain. My husband and I had tried to contact them a couple times since we met them, but it never worked out. Then, all of a sudden, on Saturday, they were interested in meeting up. It just seemed too serendipitous. I wonder if their ears were burning from the night before when we were talking about the people we knew that were living in Milwaukee but from Spain. 
I don’t exactly know what the universe has in mind for us as a message from this weekend, but it definitely felt like a sign. If nothing else, we might have a few new friends. Now, I need to go make Paella because we are craving Spanish food.